Boston nonprofit Bottom Line helps students get into, get through college

Lunide Louis had no idea how to apply to college - and even if she was accepted, she realized, she had no idea how to get through.

But during her junior year at Brighton High School, she got a lifeline - a recommendation to see someone at Bottom Line, a nonprofit in Jamaica Plain that helps students not only get into college, but stay and graduate. Counselors at Bottom Line helped her meet the college application deadlines, mail out application packages, track down financial aid options and complete all the essentials.

When Louis was accepted and started at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Bottom Line staff were right there with her, meeting with her on campus, helping her to pick classes, select a major and navigate college life.

She choked up as she remembered the care packages and cards that Bottom Line sent.

“Umbrellas, ramen noodles, mugs,” said Louis, who is among the first in her family to attend college. “As I went through this process, I felt like I was alone because I had no one to guide me. They took the place of parents and mentors.”

Louis is a poster child for Bottom Line. She not only graduated from UMass Dartmouth in 2007, she went on to get a master’s degree and recently was accepted into a dual doctorate program in San Diego.

Sticking with Louis after she got into UMass Dartmouth is where Bottom Line, with a $2.2 million budget, sets itself apart from other college initiatives that help students get into school. The organization’s growth spurt in recent years demonstrates that it must be on to something.

When Bottom Line started in 1997, it worked with 25 students, and in 2003 the organization had a budget of about $350,000. This year, Bottom Line has 1,590 high school and college students under its umbrella and a waiting list of about 50 applicants after Bottom Line’s 500 slots were filled. This month, Bottom Line received a $1 million grant from USA Funds, a nonprofit in Indianapolis that helps students achieve higher education. Bottom Line was selected from among 51 applicants nationwide.

The organization operates in Boston and Worcester and is launching in New York this summer, and its criteria for acceptance are rigorous. Bottom Line accepts students with 2.5 grade point averages or higher, and who are the first generation in their families to attend college or from families with $40,000 or less in adjusted gross income - and they have to prove it.

When it started, Bottom Line focused largely on helping students get into college. As it evolved, the organization also focused on helping students to stay in college, and today, it is focusing on helping graduates get jobs when they finish college, said Dave Borgal, national director of programs and the organization’s founder.

Of the Bottom Line students trying to get into college, about 98 percent are accepted, said Greg Johnson, executive director. Those students who choose to attend one of 21 colleges in Massachusetts where Bottom Line is active move into what Johnson called the organization’s “staying in college” track, which includes those campus visits and care packages.

Some 73 percent of Bottom Line’s students stay in college over a six-year time frame for graduation, just shy of the organization’s goal of 80 percent, Johnson said. The 21 schools where Bottom Line is active include University of Massachusetts and state schools, Northeastern University, Boston University, Boston College and Tufts University.

Bottom Line helped Millie Fury Hopkins get into Middlebury College in Vermont and, when she ended up miserable her freshman year, the organization helped her transfer successfully to Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

“I would have ended up at UMass Boston or Wentworth Institute (of Technology) instead of WPI if it wasn’t for Bottom Line and their support,” said Fury Hopkins, now a business analyst with Putnam Investments in Andover. “They don’t get you in and drop you. They keep tabs on you. They’re always available for a phone call or an email.”

With an eye on employability, Bottom Line connects students with paid internship opportunities, including at Stop & Shop, Sun life Financial, State Street and Hill Holliday. Several years ago, Sun Life hired 25 Bottom Line interns, Johnson said, and last summer Bottom Line “had a hand” in helping 150 students get summer jobs.

“College access is not enough anymore,” Borgal said. “Employers need more people to employ and (students) need to get the degree in order to be employable.”